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We were recently mentioned in the 2013 Annual Report for our Rock the Vote Campaign. It means a lot to us that our efforts are not only recognized, but also felt by the entire SUNY Oswego community.

Here’s the what our administration had to say about student involvement, engagement, and collaboration between organizations. It’s been nearly two years since our campaign, but we are still thankful for all of the organizations who played a huge role in making Rock the Vote at SUNY Oswego the success that it was.

Serving and solving

“From strengthening democracy to advancing health and safety, from developing new educational tools to aiding disaster stricken families, members of our college community played constructive roles in the wider world in 2012-13.

WTOP election night broadcast

As the academic year began, the 2012 election was on the horizon and the college‘s Civic Engagement Coalition coordinated its first comprehensive voter registration and education campaign. Film and discussion series, a debate and other events built engagement with the democratic process and registered more than 1,300 voters. The project culminated in an election night party in the Campus Center as returns rolled in.

Some 70 students representing student media WTOP-TV, WNYO-FM and the Oswegonian covered election night like never before, filling four hours of live air with remote broadcasts, roundtable discussion and constant updates via social media, providing Oswego County‘s only TV coverage and streaming it online. “There‘s nothing ‘student’ or ‘pretend’ or ‘practice’ about what we just did,” WTOP-TV station manager Ben Gordon said with pride as the marathon telecast wound down.

SUNY Oswego was named to the 2013 President‘s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for the third consecutive year. Oswego was one of under a hundred institutions to achieve the national designation. Highlighted were the college‘s Mentor-Scholar Program, Alternative Break volunteer program and disaster relief projects.

“We just really love helping other people,” student group leader Sophie Marsden told an Alabama TV reporter interviewing her about a Habitat for Humanity project. She led a dozen Oswego students building a house in the Shoals during their alternative spring break. “It‘s just super important to show how much we can actually give back to somebody else.”

Closer to home, the college community mounted a quick response to New Yorkers whose lives and livelihoods were disrupted by Superstorm Sandy. Students and staff held fundraisers and food drives, and the college‘s Small Business Development Center helped business owners apply for disaster assistance.”

Last Thursday, Civic Engagement, Student Association, and a panel of our peers set forth to talk about a subject that not everyone is comfortable with: Race. The objective was to open up a path of communication for people to begin to understand one another; to grasp what others think about people’s relationship with each other at SUNY Oswego.

The result was nothing short of perfect.

Students came together, asked insightful questions, and were open about making others aware of their problems and concerns, doing so with candor and respect.

Questions, asked by moderator Chris Collins-McNeil, helped to spark conversation first among panel members followed by comments and questions from the audience.

Some of the questions were tough, especially those submitted by Dr. Kenneth Marshall, professor history here at SUNY Oswego.

Dr. Marshall’s questions include,

Do you believe that racial problems exist on campus? In what context do they manifest?

What does the term diversity mean to you? Do you believe that diversity on campus is all talk and no action? How diverse do you believe SUNY Oswego’s campus is : in which areas and at what levels?

Do you believe that cultural celebrations (i.e. Black History Month and St. Patrick’s Day) serve as adequate responses to racial problems? What are the differences between “celebrating diversity” and challenging racial injustice? Which is more predominant on campus, and why?

How can diversity be tied to notions of social justice?

Again, the points made by each panel and audience member not only showed respect for others in the room, but a want to change the future of how groups of people interact on our campus.

A special thanks once again goes out to those who made the event possible starting with the panel members, Chris Collins-McNeil, Chelsea Hamlet, and, of course, to those who attended.

Leave your comments below and follow us on Twitter @SUNYOswegoCE for updates. Have event ideas? We would love to hear them. Email us at Civic@oswego.edu.

Race is a big issue in the United States and the subject is often neglected in educational conversation. To help combat that lack of conversation, join us this Thursday at 6pm in the Campus Center Auditorium as Civic Engagement, Student Association, BSU, LSU, CSA, and ASO discuss Race Relations at SUNY Oswego and answer some important questions about the people who make up our campus.

“Referendum No. 1: Shall the town of Albion increase the office of second town justice from one (1) to two (2)n the town to commence at the next succeeding biennial town election with term of office commencing Jan. 1, 2016? “

Yes

136

34%

No

264

66%

Referendum No. 2: Shall the supervisor’s term of office commencing Jan. 1, 2016, be increased from two (2) years to four (4) years?

Yes

126

31%

No

275

69%

Referendum No. 3: Shall the superintendent of highways term of office commencing Jan. 1, 2016, be increased from two (2) years to four (4) years?

Yes

158

39%

No

245

61%

Referendum No. 4: Shall the town clerk’s term of office commencing Jan. 1, 2016, be increased from two (2) years to four (4) years?

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